


To understand Humans you must live with them

by Windfighter



Series: Whumptober 2019 [4]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt Vision (Marvel), Light Angst, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Whumptober 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2020-11-27 05:20:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20942918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Windfighter/pseuds/Windfighter
Summary: Vision desperately wants to understand humans better and as great as Sir is he is his special brand of Human and not representive for the rest of the human race. To learn about the regular humans Vision takes a few day away from the Avengers Compound. He ends up learning, but not what he had set out to learn.





	To understand Humans you must live with them

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RanVor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RanVor/gifts).

> For the whumptober-prompt "Isolation"
> 
> First I was like "kidnappers, absolutely" but then I was "how would you even keep Vision in isolation when he can go through walls" and then my friends were "forcefield" and I was like "fair" but then at the end I settled with "self-made isolation"
> 
> So ye, that happens! Enjoy!

”Are you sure?” Sir asked for the fourth time.

Vision nodded, grabbed the bag Miss Potts had packed for him. He was confident Sir had been the one to order her to get those things for him.

”I am certain, sir. I only require a couple of days to think and it is not necessary to take a plane to a far away location when a downtown motel would suffice.”

Sir winced and shook his head.

”I have told you to call me Tony.”

”Yes, sir.”

Sir laughed at that, then wrapped an arm over his chest. It must still be aching. Vision considered postponing his vacation, his primary programming from before making itself reminded. Keep Sir safe at all costs. Sir wrapped his free arm around Vision's shoulders and led him to the garage. Sir was smart, could read people and machines in a way that few others could. One day Vision hoped he would also be able to read humans as easily. Sir knew how his new existence battled with his old programming, knew how to best guide him through it.

A few days alone to think about everything had been Vision's own idea though. Sir had first seemed unwilling to let him leave, but changed his mind the moment Vision explained his reasoning. Sir pressed a phone against Vision's hand as they stopped their walk.

”Call me whenever you need to. Fri will patch you through even if I'm in a meeting.”

”Thank you, sir.”

”Tony. I'll see you later.”

Sir patted Vision's shoulder. Vision nodded and patted Sir's shoulder back. Sir laughed, shook his head and opened the door to the car to allow for Vision to get inside. When Vision was seated Sir walked to the driver and slapped the roof of the car twice.

”Take him wherever he wants to go, Hap.”

”You're gonna be alright on your own, Mr Stark?”

”I have Hill and Rhodey here and Pepper will be back in a few hours, don't worry about me. Pick up hamburgers on the way back.”

He slapped the roof of the car again and Mr Hogan started the car, drove them away from the Avengers compound where ghosts from the accords haunted all of them.

”Where do you want to go, buddy?” Mr Hogan asked as they neared the city.

Vision didn't knew where to go. It was easier when he was connected to the internet, before he had gained a physical form. He looked at the city lights, at the cars. Blinked because that was a thing humans did.

”I... do not know”, he admitted after a minute.

He should have planned it out before he started his journey. Maybe he should have accepted Sir's offer to let him borrow an island. Mr Hogan turned in the seat to flash him a quick smile before looking forward again.

”Tony said you wanted a few days alone?”

”That is correct.”

”I know the perfect place. No questions asked. Tony has stayed there a few times when he needed to lay low.”

Vision nodded and Mr Hogans continued driving. He was not sure what to expect from a place where Sir took his escape. Memories from his old life didn't supply him with any clues and he had to conclude that J.A.R.V.I.S had not accompanied Sir to those places. Part of the lying low, he assumed. The car pulled to a stop outside a run-down house and Mr Hogan exited the vehicle, grabbed Vision's bag before opening the door for him. Vision held out a hand for the bag but Mr Hogan just smiled at him.

”Part of being the designated driver.”

Mr Hogan led him inside, stopped by a desk and knocked on it. A hunched over old man came out to greet them. Vision stared at him and Mr Hogan nudged his side with an elbow, reminding him that humans consider staring to be rude. The old man glanced at Vision, scrutinized him quickly before turning to Mr Hogan.

”Mr Smith isn't with you today?”

Vision didn't know who Mr Smith was, but from the way Mr Hogan smile he concluded that it was most likely Sir. Mr Hogan put a hand on his shoulder.

”Nah, but this guy here needs a room. The usual free?”

The old man nodded and picked a key up from a drawer.

”Room 13. Mr Smith is the only one who wants it. Everyone too superstitious.”

”I'm sure Mr Rose won't mind. Send the bill to the usual address.”

The man nodded. Mr Hogan took the key and led Vision up a set of stairs and to one of the rooms. Number 13. He put Vision's bag on the bed before smiling at the android.

”So, what do you think?”

”Who is Mr. Rose?”

”Had to come up with something. It's you. Anyway, there's a phone by the bed if you need room service. If you want to go back to the compound just give me a call. Or Tony. Your phone is connected to the internet if you get bored. You're free to stroll around outside if you want, just be careful when talking to people.”

Vision nodded. Mr Hogan shook his hand, flashed him a smile and disappeared and Vision sat down on the bed, looked through the window and wondered if he had made the right decision.

The first day at the motel was not bad. Vision spent a lot of time sitting on the bed or in the window, looking at the traffic and people outside. Observing. As night fell he started to come to the conclusion that to find his place among the humans he would need to interact with them.

The second day was also not bad. He called for roomservice, attempted a conversation with the woman who brought him the food but it failed spectaculary. He left the food on the table and dove into the internet to find out more about human interaction. His experiences with Sir, as much as he enjoyed them, were clearly not the same as how other people behaved.

He spent the third day in the bathroom. Sir was terrified of showers and he started the water, stepped into it and tilted his head. He did not get any reaction to it, only became wet. He concluded that Sir had different experiences from water than he had. He wished more of his memories as J.A.R.V.I.S had been maintained, but he could not waste time thinking of the past. He had to focus on the future. He stepped out of the shower an hour later. He was wet, but outside of that he was still feeling fully functional. He stopped infront of the full-body mirror. Body language was an important part of human interaction and he was not fluent in it. He spent the rest of the day practicing.

The fourth day he spent sitting in the window again. He looked closer at the people this time, especially at the ones that were talking with each other. He mimicked their movements in an attempt to figure out what they were talking about.

He did the same during day five and six as well. Read through another two instruction books about body language. Called room service and made a new attempt at holding a conversation. She shook her head and left him alone again. Vision put the food on the table and returned to the window.

By day seven time he noticed that the days had started blurring and he was slightly unsure about how long he had been at the motel or what he had been doing the different days. His distinct lack of need to sleep and eat did not help matter. He opened the bag Miss Potts had packed for him, found clothes he did not need, a tablet, a couple of books and a toothbrush. He put the items on the bed and stared at them.

It never got dark where he was, but time still passed. By day eight he was starting to miss the compound and the company he had had there. But something was still missing. He got dressed in the clothes Miss Potts had picked out for him and went outside. The man at the counter recommended a small park two blocks away and Vision went there, sat down next to a pond and listened to the people who walked by him. Their language was... different. Their syntax was of a completely different composition than that of Sir. It did remind him partly about the young man that Sir had taken under his protection.

Vision abstained from interacting with any of the people passing him by. He observed, compared their interactions with the last interaction he had had with Wanda. Something had changed inside him during that interaction. Or shortly after, he could not pinpoint it exactly. Before that he had been... he had not minded being different from humans. Had not minded being seperated from them. Maybe if he had been more like them it would have ended differently.

Did Sir ask himself the same questions? Vision knew there was regret living in Sir's heart, but he had not known exactly what regret was. He knew now. He placed a hand where his heart would have been had he been a human and smiled before walking back to the motel.

Day nine brought rain. Vision sat in the window again. The street was empty apart from the cars. No humans walked by. Did all humans have a dislike to water?

Day ten brought more rain. Vision moved to the shower again. Hot water washed over him, washed dirt off his frame and into the drain. He went outside. The rain was cold, not falling as hard on to his body as the water in the shower had done. Maybe it was the cold the humans had trouble with. He could understand that. His body already felt stiffer. He could hear laughter. A young girl and what Vision assumed was her mother was coming closer. The girl was dancing and laughing and singing. The woman held on tight to an umbrella. Vision watched them. The girl noticed him, the woman kept her gaze firmly to the ground.

”You look funny”, the girl said.

Vision opened his mouth to answer but before he could the woman grabbed her arm and pulled at it to get her to continue walking.

”Don't talk to strangers”, she whispered as they continued on their way. Vision returned to his room.

The sun was shining during day eleven. Vision stayed in his room.

Day twelve and the sun was still shining. The phone Sir had given him rang twice but he didn't answer.

During day thirteen Vision stayed on the bed and stared at the ceiling. He was starting to miss home. He did not know what home was.

Day fourteen. Home was Sir and his robots. And Wanda's touch and the smell of paprika.

Day fifteen. Vision was a Stranger, he realized. Someone you should avoid talking to. He had known that he was not like the humans, but not realized just how different from them he was.

Day sixteen. Vision stood infront of the full-body mirror. Maybe if he looked more like one of them. If he did something about his rose-colored skin. His clothes. The way he walked and talked. But would he still be himself if he changed all of that? What would Wanda think?

Day seventeen. Vision stared at the phone Sir had given him. He wanted to return home. He wanted to hear Sir's voice. He put the phone down and laid down on the bed. Tomorrow. He would call tomorrow.

Day eighteen. Vision felt empty. He stared at his reflection. It had no answers for him. He looked the same. What was he missing? Was he ill? His android-body should not be able to catch any of the human illnesses. The phone rang again. He moved to answer, but found that he did not move at all. He stared into the mirror again.

Day nineteen. He could not bring himself to call Sir. He had been gone so long, even though he had promised it would only be for a few days. Sir must be disappointed. Room service stopped by, but he refrained from attempting to uphold another conversation with the woman who gave him his food. He sat down by the table and stared at it.

Day twenty and twenty one felt very much like only one day. Vision stared at the phone, entered Sir's number and deleted it before he could call. Over and over again.

Rain arrived again during day twenty two. Vision sat in the window and stared at it. Puddles formed at the sidewalk, a girl jumped in them. A boy put a leaf in one but was dragged away by his father. The adults avoided them. Vision rested his head against the window.

Day twenty three. Vision concluded that he felt alone and sad. He closed his eyes. Maybe having a physical body was not as great as he had first imagined.

Day twenty four. He realized he had isolated himself. He stared at the phone, knew he should call Sir. There were no more answers for him here. His hand shook and he stared at it. Isolation, he realized, was very hard to break. He leaned his head against the window again.

Day twenty five arrived together with thunder. Heavy rain fell against the window and woke Vision up. He blinked, had slept even though he did not need to. He felt a bit lighter but could not bring himself to move. The phone rang, but it was on the table and he could not reach it. People was running on the sidewalk to get out of the rain as quick as possible. A blue car pulled up, stopped outside the door to the motel. A figure walked out, slapped the roof of the car and walked towards the door. Vision tilted his head. A couple of minutes later there was a knock on the door. He tried to say something, but the words got stuck in his throat. The door opened anyway. Sir smiled at him, his clothes drenched from the short walk from the car.

”Mr Rose”, Sir said with a laugh.

Vision shook his head. Sir sat down by the table and watched him closely.

”How are you, buddy?”

”I am...” Vision hesitated. He could not tell, these experiences were new for him. ”...adequate.”

”Is your adequate anything like my fine?”

Vision had seen Sir's fine. It was Sir falling apart and in pain with aches he could not explain. Vision had not quite reached that state.

”It... hurts”, he explained. ”I feel drained, I think is the expression.”

Sir's eyes got sad and Vision wanted to take it back.

”I shouldn't have let you go.”

”Sir, please do not place the blame on yourself. This was my decision and something I felt I needed to do in order to understand humans better.”

”Do you?”

”Not as much as I had hoped, sir.” He blinked as realization hit him. These things he were experiencing, the pain and exhaustion and confusion, they were human emotions. He looked Sir in the eyes. ”But I find that I am understanding them better than I used to.”

Sir smiled at him and got up from the chair, joined him by the window and glanced at the sidewalk. He put a hand on Vision's shoulder.

”You want to stay longer? Or head home?”

Vision looked at a boy who jumped into one of the puddles, splashing water at himself, his parents and several innocent people passing by at the same time. He looked at Sir.

”Home, sir.”

Sir squeezed his shoulder, released his grip and helped him pack. Vision nodded to the man behind the desk as they left the building. Sir ran to the car, but Vision stopped by the puddle. His mirror image was distorted in it and he carefully dipped his foot into the water. Tilted his head. Looked at Sir. Sir grinned at him. He looked down again and jumped into the puddle. Sir yelled and something warm bubbled inside Vision, spilled through his mouth and he laughed. Sir started laughing as well. Happiness. He went to the car. Sir opened a door for them and they both sat down in the back seat, both drenched from head to toe.

”Take us home, Hap.”

”Will do, Mr Stark.”

They drove away, back towards the compound. Vision had not gotten the answers he had been searching for, but his time alone had not been without lessons. He knew more, understood more, had experienced more. Sir was looking through the window, exhaustion written in all of his features. Vision could see it more clearly now than he had before.

”Sir, would you appreciate a movie night when we return home?”

”Tony”, Sir answered. ”And yeah, a movie night might be what we all need. You staying for it, Happy?”

”As soon as I have picked up Miss Potts from her meeting, Mr Stark.”

”Movie night it is”, Sir... Tony answered and leaned back against the seat. ”I'm happy you're back with us, Vis.”

”I find that I too am happy about my return... Tony.”

**Author's Note:**

> not my best work but it could have ended so much worse so I'm gonna jolt this down as a success!


End file.
